Transport articles

The Mayor must rectify appalling treatment of disabled Richmond passengers

The Richmond and Twickenham Times newspaper is campaigning for Boris Johnson to meet disabled bus users from Richmond and hear from them at first hand about the inadequate public transport services they have to use.

Caroline Pidgeon is supporting the campaign and says:

I hope Boris Johnson, who is chairman of Transport for London (TfL), comes and hears at first hand about the appalling treatment facing Clare Watson and many other disabled people.

The Mayor must now take a lead on this issue and ensure that bus services across London really are accessible for everyone.

You can read more about the paper's campaign here.

7 August 2010 - 6:33pm

Walking around Islington

Caroline and a team from City Hall went on an afternoon walk in Islington on Tuesday 3rd August with Sustrans officers Carl and Matt. The fact finding walk is part of Caroline’s investigation into making walking easier and safer in London. The report will look at what the Mayor is doing to make walking safer in London and suggest things he can do in the short, medium and longer term to encourage more Londoners to walk around our great capital city.

The walk started at Highbury and Islington station and finished at Finsbury Park station and followed an entire Connect2 project. Connect2 is a UK-wide programme to develop 79 cycling and walking routes by 2013. Funded the Big Lottery Fund, with matching grants from other sources. The walk showed a number of different walking environments which have been redesigned to increase their attractiveness including a “pocket park” and a “DIY Street” on Monsell Road.

7 August 2010 - 5:50pm

Walking around Tower Hamlets

Caroline and a team from City Hall went on a long walk on Tuesday 3rd August with Sustrans officers Carl and Matt. The fact finding walk is part of Caroline’s investigation into making walking easier and safer in London. The report will look at what the Mayor is doing to make walking safer in London and suggest things he can do in the short, medium and longer term to encourage more Londoners to walk around our great capital city.

Sustrans is a UK charity set-up to identify practical ways for people to travel in a more sustainable and healthy way. The visit was an opportunity to look at two programmes delivered by Sustrans GOAL (Greenways for the Olympics and London) - a broad programme of work including the development of an extensive network of London Greenways, the National Cycle Network and a network of walking and cycling routes around the Olympic park, and Connect2, a UK-wide programme to develop 79 cycling and walking routes by 2013.

7 August 2010 - 5:40pm

Street Audit in Peckham

Caroline took part in a street audit with London Living Streets on Friday 6th August as part of her investigation into making walking safer and easier in London. (Go to the London Assembly website for more about the investigation.)

Caroline and the team from City Hall joined Jeremy and Phillipa from Living Streets to walk around the centre of Peckham looking at challenges to walking in different areas. Living Streets is a UK charity which works with local people and government to create safe, attractive, enjoyable streets where the needs of people are prioritised over traffic, where local people are involved in decision making and where walking is the natural choice for short journeys. As part of its work to help improve local environments, Living Streets carries out community street audits.

7 August 2010 - 5:18pm

All new bus countdown signs in Kingston

Caroline hosted a meeting with officers from TfL and Kingston Council along with Cllr Simon James, Executive Member for Transport at Kingston to discuss the plans for countdown signs in the Borough.

TfL is currently upgrading all signs to new technology which will allow real time information to mobile phones and online as well as at information signs at bus stops.

The current plans show the same number of signs per borough as the current system but at different locations. This could lead to areas such as Malden and Combe seeing half of their signs removed, even though it is the most populated area in Kingston. Discussion also took place on particular issues at Cromwell Road Bus Garage, where there are currently three countdown signs. TfL is looking at a solution to have all of the information in one sign.

"I was glad to bring everyone together for a frank discussion about the criteria for these signs and to find a way forward. TfL has agreed to review some of the signs and data and Kingston may also look at how they can buy some additional signs" commented Caroline Pidgeon AM.

7 August 2010 - 4:47pm

Save the South London Line

Lib Dems Caroline Pidgeon AM and Simon Hughes MP joined politicians of all parties at a Save the South London Line campaign event at Clapham High Street station on 28th July.

The event was to highlight the future plans to axe this vital service between Victoria and London Bridge stations, via stations such as Clapham High Street, Peckham Rye and South Bermondsey.

"When we were promised the extension of the East London Line to Clapham Junction, it was never in place of our existing South London Line service. We need both services to meet the demand for transport in South East London and for the hospital workers and visitors who go between Guy's Hospital at London Bridge and King's or the Maudsley down in Denmark Hill. I do not want to see any of the stations on this route left with a worse service" commented Caroline Pidgeon.

28 July 2010 - 10:01pm

Investigating accessibility issues at Liverpool St and Stratford

As part of the Transport Committee’s work on the accessibility of the transport system in London, Caroline Pidgeon AM along with other Committee members went on two site visits. The first to Liverpool Street Station where the committee looked around the station and the many accessibility issues with some wheelchair passengers.

The second visit then went to Stratford to look at the investment there and the interchanges between different modes of transport.

28 July 2010 - 9:50pm

Guided cycle tours are a flop - just like last year

Shepherd's Bush blogger Chris Underwood has a story on the failure and cancellation of the "guided cycle tours" that TfL offered in Hammersmith and Fulham in June.

The article includes Caroline's question to the Mayor on the subject:

Caroline Pidgeon: Can you give an outline of how the publicity strategy differed to last year’s, in light of the low participation rate last year?

Boris Johnson: Between last year and this year the approach differs in the following ways:

Link to existing cycle programmes: Cycle Fridays was a standalone initiative, marketed via an advertising campaign. This year, rides are being offered as a support product to help individuals take advantage of existing cycling programmes including the London Cycle Challenge and Barclay’s Cycle Superhighways. The publicity for the rides is incorporated into existing programme channels; the only cost incurred is for the rides themselves.

Create a flexible programme, which responds to demand: Last year the number of rides publicised were fixed, but this year TfL is closely monitoring participation in the rides.

Roll out the rides in short bursts: Last year TfL publicised a block of rides for 10 weeks and participation dropped off over time. This year, each set of rides will last no longer than five weeks before a break. If a particular programme is not generating sufficient demand, the remaining rides can be scaled back or cancelled.

Change the name: Awareness of Cycle Fridays was relatively high; however understanding of what was on offer was lower. To make this clear, TfL changed the name to ‘Guided Cycle Rides’.

Read the full story here.

28 July 2010 - 9:38pm

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